Cougars Travel Across the Country:Now in the heart of the competitive season, the Washington State University women’s rowing team heads to Clemson, S.C. to compete at the Clemson Invite Saturday, April 19 and Sunday, April 20 at Lake Hartwell.The Clemson Invite:There will be both a morning and afternoon session on Saturday...the morning session begins at 5:52 a.m. PT and the afternoon session begins at 2:30 p.m. PT...on Sunday, there will be one session that begins at 5:52 a.m. PT...teams from all parts of the country will compete at the regatta including: Clemson, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, Duke, Gonzaga, Harvard, Indiana, Iowa, Louisville, Miami, Michigan State, Oklahoma, Oregon State, Pennsylvania, Syracuse, Tennessee, Texas, UCLA, and Wisconsin...a live video broadcast of the last 1,000 meters of each race can be seen at www.clemsontigers.com.Last Time on the Water:The Cougars last competed against Washington in dual action at Seattle, April 12...the Cougars fell to the Huskies in all five races...in the closest race of the day, the WSU second varsity eight finished half a second behind Washington...the second varsity eight closed the gap from their previous meeting by two seconds...similarly, the varsity eight closed the gap from their previous meeting by three seconds and finished five seconds behind Washington.WSU Head Coach Jane LaRiviere on the Clemson Invite: "I think what is awesome about the Clemson Invite is that we are going to see several teams from most of the major conferences. There will be lots of competition so at the end of the weekend, after three races, I think people are going to be sorted out. I think when you have an event with 21 teams, you do not have an opportunity to have a down race. This is very similar in many ways to the NCAA Championships. To be successful at the NCAA Championships, you have to get faster as the event progresses. Our challenge is for us to improve. First of all, we have to set the bar high, but then have the expectation that the next race is kind of like a semifinal and the race on Sunday is kind of like a final."Cougs Ranked 12th in USRowing/CRCA Poll:WSU is currently ranked 12th in the nation in the USRowing/Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association (CRCA) Division I Poll presented by Pocock Racing Shells...six of the Pac-12’s seven rowing squads are ranked in the top-20 poll: California-second, Stanford-fifth, Washington-sixth, USC-eighth, WSU-12th, UCLA-13th, and Oregon State is receiving 69 votes.Coaching Staff:Jane LaRiviere is in her 12th year as head coach of the WSU women’s rowing program...the Cougars have raced in seven NCAA Championships under LaRiviere...she is joined by assistant Josh Adam, novice coach Corrie McGrath and graduate assistant Devon Carroll...Adam is in his fourth year after coaching his prior two years at Indiana...McGrath is in her sixth year at WSU, after coaching stints at Clemson and Central Florida...Carroll is in her second year with the Cougars.Next for the Cougars:The Washington State University women’s rowing team returns home to host Oregon State Saturday, May 3 at Wawawai Landing.